200MB Free Data For Tablets From T-Mobile

Update #1: The T-Mobile Sim arrived without issue and as soon as I put the SIM card into my Ipad, the activation process began. Outside of registering with T-Mobile as part of the activation and choosing a plan, there weren’t any other steps. Whole process took 5 minutes and even more surprisingly, if you choose the 200MB Free plan, you DO NOT even have to put down a credit card. If you go over the 200MB limit for the month, they just shut off your data plan! All in all, the entire process went smoothly and I recommend anyone with a tablet to go ahead and sign up for this deal. Thanks to the hard 200MB cap, there is literally no way you can go over the 200MB limit, thus avoiding any additional fees!

Update #2: Apparently, not all iPads come with a SIM card slot. Make sure your tablet or iPad has a SIM card slot or you can’t take advantage of the below deal!

Update #3: As of 3/30/2014, T-Mobile is running the $0.99 cent sim card sale again! It is normally $10.00.

“Get It While It’s Hot!”

Occasionally there is a great non-travel related deal that I am compelled to share. This is one of those times (although the case can be made for this being travel related)!

Last month, I finally caved and bought an iPad Air. Since I am in wifi zones 95% of the time (home, school, Starbucks, etc), I opted to not purchase a monthly data package for it.

Not having a data package is normally never a big deal because most places have wi-fi, or in the cases when I know I am going to be wi-fi less (like on a plane), I make a point to load up my iPad with movies, news, etc while still on wi-fi.

That being said, it of course would be nice to have a data package for my iPad because there are times when I just want to read updated news, or check a webpage, etc and I am not on wi-fi.

Enter T-Mobile

T-Mobile for years has been getting killed by their competitors.

Not only is T-Mobile the smallest of the big 4 carriers (At&t, Verizon, Sprint) but they also have made really great business decisions in recent years like waiting until 2013 to carry the iPhone..

This has put them in a weird position. Either they need to merge with their competitors or drastically innovate their business.

The Catch?

Telecommunication companies are about as trustworthy as used car salesman, so I am of course hesitant to say there are no strings attached but it seems that T-Mobile is being fairly transparent about the process.

Surprisingly, you can even bring your own tablet to T-Mobile!

“Not Bad”

And as long as you are registered with T-Mobile, you can get the free 200MB data plan without paying for an additional data plan.

“Can You Hear Me Now?”

That being said, I am sure T-Mobile is hoping that most people who take advantage of this offer will love T-Mobile so much that they will switch all their telecommunications needs to T-Mobile, or that people will go over the 200MB limit without realizing it and incur a charge.

The latter is a risk I am willing to take since it is fairly easy to monitor your data usage on an iPad and if you do go over, the rates are pretty reasonable.

Since the T-Mobile sim card is currently on sale for 99 cents (with free shipping), I went ahead and ordered one for my iPad.

“Thrift Shopping”

Recap

Although I have little to no faith in telecommunications companies, it seems T-Mobile is really trying to be the leader of creating customer friendly plans that don’t tie you down for years on end, so I am willing to spend 99 cents and give them the benefit of the doubt that this new free 200MB data offer is real and not a scam.

While 200MB a month isn’t a ton of data, it is more than enough for browsing the internet on the train during your morning commute, or if you are ever stuck at an airport without lounge access, etc. 95% of my time is spent in wi-fi zones, but it will be nice to know that if I am ever not on wi-fi, I can still access the internet with this new T-Mobile offer.

As long as you keep tabs on how much data you are using every month, I don’t see why one shouldn’t literally be able to get 200MB free data for the rest of your life.

Once the sim card comes and I activate it, I will go ahead and update this post with my experiences. Typically I would vet this offer before posting about it, but since the T-Mobile sim cards are on sale right now for 99 cents instead of $9.99, I thought I would go ahead and share it.